Jay Shetty – Monk to Paycheck

This is the story of Jay Shetty, a young teenager who loved the thrills and spills of life. In a sudden moment two of his good friends died and questions he thought he had answered suddenly had no answers. Unbeknownst to him he was to find the answers shadowing a monk’s life.

The Early Years

Jay Shetty was born in the United Kingdom. He was a shy introverted young boy. At school he was bullied for being overweight and nerdy but he never allowed the experiences to affect him. As a teenager he was a thrill seeker, suspended from school three times for taking drugs, was in multiple relationships and constantly in search of his identity and the next adventure.

At the age of sixteen two of Jay’s friends abruptly died; one in a car accident and the other as a result of gang violence. According to Jay he deemed them to be good individuals and was unable to comprehend their sudden loss. Losing them in a moment made Jay question and reflect on exactly what he was seeking and search for a deeper meaning and purpose in life.

“The biggest room in the world is the room for self-improvement” – Jay Shetty

Reflection of Life

Growing up, Jay contemplated his career path and inherently would listen to CEOs, entrepreneurs and business people. He was an observer and would study his friends who were five, seven and ten years older than him accomplish successful careers, have gorgeous homes, beautiful partners but strangely they appeared unfulfilled, they lacked purpose and passion. Jay was aspiring to achieve success yet seeing his friends who had achieved it and still unhappy made him question did he really desire success and his honest answer was – no.

At the age of eighteen a friend invited Jay to listen to a monk, this was a huge moment because for the first time Jay was captivated by what the monk had to say. The monk talked about this Incredible principle of self-sacrifice – “you should plant trees under whose shade you don’t intend to sit,” the statement sent shivers and a thrill like Jay had never felt before.

Giving up everything for the service of others sounded amazing and he later discovered that the monk had rejected jobs at both Microsoft and Google and reflected who does that, yet this monk was the happiest person he had ever met. Jay shadowed this monk and other monks for three years; waking up at 4am to read scriptures, taking cold showers, eating simply and meditating between four to eight hours daily. Half the day was spent on personal growth with the remainder of the day helping others. He helped build sustainable villages and got involved with food programmes distributing over one million meals per day.

“When you want to put somebody in their place, put yourself in their shoes first.” Jay Shetty

A Spiritual Evolving

The monk suggested that Jay return to his family and spread his knowledge. That was the beginning of what changed for Jay, he started to hear his inner voice amongst all the noise. Jay moved back in with his parents, with no money in hand and spent the next nine months adapting to normal life. His friends invited Jay to speak at their companies as they were undergoing considerable pressure and stress. Jay noticed the world was going digital and adapted, he was noticed by Ariana Huffington who invited him to be the host of HuffPost Lifestyle in New York. Jay later started his own viral digital agency and now works with some of the biggest brands in the world as a keynote speaker.

Today Jay is a storyteller, a viral content creator and motivational speaker. His videos have garnered over 1 billion views and over 3 million followers globally. He is known as a game changer and media influencer making his wisdom go viral.

When you take the time to keep your mind still, drown out the noise and reflect on your inner thoughts your real self-discovery awakens.